Athens made a brief trip down I-65 to take on Cullman Friday night. Last year, Cullman defeated the Golden Eagles in a miraculous comeback spear-headed by current Alabama freshman Lawson Schaffer at the Northwest Regionals at Wallace State-Hanceville. As expected, Friday night’s early season matchup was a must-see game, as the Bearcats edged Athens 57-51.

Here’s three takeaways from one of the AHSAA’s top games from the opening week…

1.       No star, no problem for Cullman. Things look a little different for Cullman without Lawson Schaffer heading the team this year, but that didn’t slow down the Bearcats. Their three-point shooting style of play looked great – even if the stats don’t show it. Cullman also did a great job of picking up the slack of UAH signee Seth Swalve. The point guard missed the majority of the game not feeling well, but Cullman had a number of players step up throughout the game. Fellow seniors Gage Goodwin and Nick Handley were leaders and stepped up when Bobby Meyer’s squad needed them most. With this style of play, Cullman can put a game away in a hurry and they can’t be counted out of anything either. When they’re hitting shots, they are a tough team to beat.

2.       Athens has a great young nucleus. Athens was very talented last year. They very well could have been competing for a state championship in Birmingham last year if they could have got by Cullman. Nevertheless, the Eagles lost the majority of the production from last year. Senior Terrance Watkins is the only returning starter, but they have a solid young nucleus to build around for years to come. Cam Turner, a talented 2019 point guard, had a fantastic showing on the varsity level. He showed composure and an exceptional ball-handling ability. He made his way onto our watch list in limited minutes off the bench. Another freshman that has a chance is forward Tyler Williams. Pushing 6-foot-4, it looks like the youngster could add a few more inches. He has a great skill level and projects as a mismatch stretch 4 man with his shooting ability. With only three seniors on the roster, Athens is going to endure some growing pains, but the future for this year (and the next few years) is bright.

3.       I have undervalued Cullman point guard Seth Swalve to this point. I’ll be the first to say that and I’m not afraid to admit it. The future UA-Huntsville guard played in limited minutes tonight, but I saw all I needed to see in the first few minutes of the game. The 5-foot-11 point guard has added some muscle to his frame and can take contact. He’s very crafty with his game and controls the tempo with precision. For some reason, I dropped Swalve out of my top 35 rankings in the last update. That was a dumb decision. There aren’t 35 better players in the state than him right now. It’s safe to say his name will be on the updated list.